A downhole environment such as an oil or gas well in an oilfield or undersea formations may expose equipment used downhole to severe conditions of temperature, pressure, or corrosiveness. These challenging conditions may affect the integrity or performance of the equipment. For example, where an article has a rubber or plastic part, environmental conditions can cause corrosion by contact with hydrocarbon oil, water, inorganic salts, acids, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, or other corrosive materials found in such environments. This contact can weaken the structural integrity of the element or cause the element to have poor dimensional stability.
Advances in methods and materials to ameliorate environmental effects on downhole articles are well received by the industry.